Farm-to-Closet Initiative - Month Four

The Lifecycle Of A Cotton Flower

In the final stages of a cotton plant, it produces flowers that make way for seeds encased in white and fluffy fiber. There is an amazing transformation that the plant goes through during this phase:

Off the main stem, the plant grows small fruiting branches with nodes where buds begin to form

The cotton plant forms buds from pulling energy from the plant’s leaves

The buds open in the morning to reveal a small, blossoming flower

As the flower grows, it turns from white to yellow to fuchsia, while the flower self-pollinates with help from insects

The flower wilts and falls to the ground, making a cotton boll with hard green walls

The boll grows, hardens and opens to reveal cotton seeds encased in white fiber

The long white fiber protects the seed and serves as a sail to catch the wind and spread the seeds

Once in the ground, the fibers act as a sponge for water to help the cotton seed germinate

The regenerative relationship between the soil and cottonseed continues as the small seed transforms into a strong, beautiful plant

Notes From The Field

Open cotton bolls

Once the fibrous coating and the seed mature enough, the green walls of the cotton boll open to reveal the white, fluffy fibers and seed.

Cotton plant leaf

Leaves store a majority of the plant’s energy, so when the flowers bloom they transfer the energy to help the seeds develop.

Closed cotton bolls

After the cotton flower pollinates, the flower wilts and reveals a seed protected by a green shell.

Local flowers

The outskirts of the farm are bursting with color. Along with the cotton flowers, bursts of colors from local flora dot the farm.

Post-harvest cotton plant

Once the farmers pick out the seeds and their fibrous coating, the dry walls of the cotton boll remain.

Raw cotton

The farmers pick the cotton, then lay the fluffy cotton bolls on a large tarp to dry in the hot Indian sun.

Cotton branch

Cotton plants grow numerous branches each with the essential parts of the plant: leaves, flowers, and bolls.

Marigold

Pollinators love marigolds. Having them on the farm is extra crucial during this phase. Although cotton is self-pollinating, pollinators help the process along.

Cotton leaf after a pest invasion

Although most plants were able to thrive and produce cotton seeds, some were not able to sustain with pests.

Cotton Harvest

Farmers harvest all the cotton by hand. It is a lot of hard work, but there are no mechanical harvest options for small farms. The only machine that harvests cotton costs a small fortune and only works for large, industrial farms. So all of the millions of cotton farmers in India, the second-largest producer of cotton globally, pick the cotton by hand.

To harvest the full yield of cotton from a field requires numerous passes. The cotton bolls mature at different times during a three-month period, so the farmers walk the fields every day, collecting the mature cotton seeds and fibers.

Farmers walk through the rows of cotton and look for all the mature bolls.

They pick a handful of cotton as they walk, then take a pause to pick out any dried leaves, bugs and low-quality bolls.

They place each handful of cotton into the pockets of their custom-made vests.

Once the vest is full, they walk to the patio of the farmer’s house where the raw cotton dries out in the bright sun on a large tarp.

What’s Next

Once the harvest is finished, the by-products from the farm go on numerous journeys.

The seeds and fibers

The cottonseed and its fibrous coating are sent to a gin where the combs and saws pull the cotton fibers off the seed. The seed is then saved to be used next season and to make cottonseed milk. Oshadi Collective processes the cotton fiber. First it goes to a spinning mill where it is turned into yarn, then it will be woven into fabric and sewn into dresses.

The cotton plants

The farmers cut down the rest of the cotton plant and either add it to the compost or leave it as mulch. After months of introducing nutrients through vermicompost and other traditional fertilizers, it is crucial to cycle the cotton plants back into the soil. As the plants decompose with help from microorganisms, nutrients are reintroduced to the soil in plant-available forms. The decomposition process results in soil organic matter, the most important ingredient in healthy soil.

The Land

The farmers will begin cultivating the land again after the harvest is over. For the next season, we will be growing indigo and tomatoes on the land. Indigo is a legume and reintroduces nitrogen to the soil and we can use the harvested leaves to naturally dye cotton blue. Tomatoes are a staple of the south Indian diet and provide good fertilizer carryover.